No. 3 Huskers Fall at No. 4 Texas

Austin, Texas ? Jordan Larson’s 50th career double-double led three Huskers in double figures, but third-ranked Nebraska fell to No. 4 Texas, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 4,324 at Gregory Gymnasium.

Larson posted team highs in both kills (15) and digs (16) as the Huskers’ (25-2, 16-2 Big 12) saw their five-match win streak snapped. Tara Mueller and Amanda Gates joined Larson in double figures with 13 and 11 kills respectively, as Gates hit .450 and tied her career best in kills.

Texas (22-3, 15-2 Big 12) was led by outside hitter Destinee Hooker, who finished with a match-high 24 kills on .352 hitting and 17 digs. Hooker’s offensive night propelled the Longhorns to a .333 hitting percentage, the best night by a Husker opponent this season.

The win by Texas put the Longhorns percentage points behind Nebraska in the Big 12 race. The Huskers, who could have clinched the league title with a win on Wednesday, can grab at least a share of the title with wins in their final two regular-season matches.

The Huskers struggled in the opening set, as Hooker took over the set in a 25-19 Longhorn win. Hooker was nearly flawless, drilling 12 of the Longhorns’ 16 kills on .632 hitting, helping UT hit .469 in the set. Larson and Lindsey Licht had three kills apiece for the Huskers, who hit just .111 in the set. The teams battled early on before Texas broke a 9-all tie with three unanswered points, taking a 12-9 lead on Hooker’s sixth kill of the set to force a Husker timeout. Nebraska came right back with three straight points to even the score at 12 apiece after a Gates kill.  Texas came right back, winning three of the next four rallies, taking a 16-13 lead on another Hooker kill. The Huskers continued to chip away, pulling within 17-16, but kills from Hooker and Lauren Paolini pushed the margin to three points. NU made one last run, as kills from Kori Cooper and Gates pulled NU within 19-18, but NU would get no closer, as two Hooker ignited a 6-1 spurt to close out the set.

The Huskers held the Longhorns’ offense in check in the second set, posting a 25-21 victory to send the match to the break even at one set apiece. Mueller and Larson had four kills apiece, while the NU middle blocking duo of Cooper and Gates combined for five kills on seven swings. After spotting the Longhorns an early 4-1 lead, the Huskers roared back, winning five of the next six rallies to pull even at five on a block by Cooper and Licht. Trailing 9-7, the Huskers a Mueller kill and a Larson got the Huskers going on a 7-2 spurt, as the Huskers took a 14-11 lead after a Mueller kill. Nebraska eventually built the lead to 18-13 before Texas charged back, running off four straight points to pull within 18-17 after consecutive blocks by Juliann Faucette and Paolini and force a Husker timeout. Nebraska regrouped, as a Larson kill and two straight UT miscues gave NU a 21-17 lead, an advantage they would hold on to the rest of the set. Texas got within 23-21 before a Longhorn service error and a Cooper kill gave the Huskers the set.

In the third set, the Longhorns overcame an early deficit to top the Huskers, 25-22. Mueller had five kills, but the Huskers were held to .150 hitting, while Texas hit .355 behind Hooker, who had six kills and seven digs in the set. Nebraska took control early, using a 7-2 spurt to break an early tie and build an 11-6 margin after a pair of Mueller kills.  The Huskers pushed the lead to 16-12, only to see the Longhorns rally back, winning five of the next six rallies to tie the score at 17 on an Ashley Engle kill. The Huskers led 19-18 after a Mueller kill, but kills from Hooker and Paolini gave Texas a 20-19 lead, their first lead since the opening moments of the set.  The Huskers would forge ties at 20 and 21, but an Engle kill and two Huskers errors put the Longhorn at set point. Nebraska fought off one set point, but Paolini’s tip found the court to put Texas up two sets to one.

In the finale, NU overcame a 6-0 deficit only to see UT pull away late for a 25-22 win. Engle did most of her damage in the set, delivering six of her 12 kills in the set to help the Longhorns hit .412 as a team. The Huskers found themselves in a hole in the fourth set, spotting the Longhorns the first six points of the set after a Michelle Kocher ace. NU battled back, winning eight of the next 11 rallied to pull within 9-8 and force the Longhorns to take a timeout. Nebraska continued the charge, taking an 11-10 lead after a UT hitting error. Texas took a pair of two-point leads and was up 19-17 before Larson pulled NU even with a pair of kills. The teams were even at 21 before an Engle kill and a controversial net call spotted UT a 23-21 lead, forcing NU to take its final timeout. Trailing 24-21, NU fought off one match point before Engle closed out the match with a kill.

The Huskers return home on Saturday night, as they host Texas Tech on Senior Night beginning at 7 p.m. Amanda Gates, Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz will be honored in post-match ceremonies.

Head Coach John Cook
Opening statement: I thought we had a chance to win this match tonight in game three, but we hit it away.  That gave a lot of momentum, got them back in the match and we just couldn’t put the heat on them when we needed to make plays.  We had 33 attack errors and you are not going to beat anybody making that many errors.

On his team’s performance: I thought we competed hard the whole night.  Our kids played their hearts out.  We played a lot better this year than we did down here last year.  We graduated four All-Americans and Texas returns four All-Americans.  Right now, we’re four-to-four in games with them, so I think it’s a pretty darn good effort by our team.  Again, I think if we make a couple of plays in game three, then it’s a whole different match.  Our kids competed and fought hard and I thought they did a great job of that.

On what his team did well tonight: I thought we served really well.  Texas was not in system.  In the first game, [Destinee] Hooker got a lot of sets in the back row because they couldn’t set their front row.  But I thought we did a great job of serving and we started digging balls.  I thought we could’ve dug a lot more.  We dug some shots tonight that gave us chances to score points.

Senior Outside Hitter Jordan Larson
On players getting hurt and others stepping up: I think, again, it’s been the story of our team.  Brooke [Delano] came in last week, replaced Lindsey [Licht] and made things possible.  It’s how our team has been all season.  I think Sydney [Anderson] said after the match that we would die for each other out there, and that is so true.  We were giving everything we had.  We fought with everything.  I think you can compare this to our Colorado match where there was no fighting.  But, we found a way to fight tonight.

On what sparked the team to make a come back: It was just taking it one point at a time.  We just needed a side out and to just move on.  Like Coach Cook said about Destinee [Hooker], we knew they were going to do big things and we knew they were going to hit the ball really hard.  But, it was kind of a shake-it-off and move on thing.  We can hit the ball hard too and we’re going to come right back at you.

Sophomore Setter Sydney Anderson
On if she set differently tonight due to the hitting errors: It goes back to how I always set.  If my teammates are struggling, I want to get their confidence back up.  I’m going to go to them as many times as I need to for them to get a kill.  We switched things up and we moved hitters around and then we found open places for them to hit.  I just tried to put them in the best situations.